Thaçi and Dacic meet in Brussels (dailies)

Papers report that EU High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton brought together in Brussels the former KLA leader and now Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi and former spokesperson of Slobodan Milosevic and present Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic.

Koha Ditore, calling the meeting historic, notes that no footage or even pictures were released from the meeting and says that this was done so as to enable the leaders from Kosovo and Serbia to have an easier time with their respective public opinions which don’t view their meeting with sympathies. Even the question of whether Thaçi and Dacic shook hands remains unclear because of no pictures from the meeting, adds the paper. However, sources in the EU told the paper that there was an informal handshake and that the meeting in general was of informal nature.

“After meeting them separately, I chaired a joint meeting in my office that was held in a good and constructive atmosphere. We agreed to continue dialogue for normalizing relations between the two parties and both agreed to work together. We will meet again soon,” Zëri quotes EU High Representative Ashton as saying.

At the same time, PM Dacic told Serb media that at the start of the meeting he reminded Thaçi how he himself was born in Kosovo and that “Kosovo is mine as much as it is yours”. Thaçi on the other hand is quoted as having said that Kosovo had envisaged the possibility of dual citizenship for Serbs in Kosovo.

Office of Kosovo President hails Thaçi-Dacic meeting (dailies)

Arbër Vllahiu, spokesperson to President Atifete Jahjaga, told Radio Free Europe that it is very good that prime ministers of Republic of Kosovo and Republic of Serbia met at an equal footing. “This marks a step forward towards normalization of relations between our two countries and a road ahead in achievement of agreements for a better future for our countries which had a difficult past,” said Vllahiu.

 AAK and LDK silent, Vetëvendosje criticizes Thaçi-Dacic meeting (dailies)

Papers carry the reactions of opposition parties in Kosovo to the meeting between Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi and Prime Minister of Serbia Ivica Dacic. Express reports that officials from LDK and AAK did not wish to comment on the meeting while Vetëvendosje said Thaçi was eager to go to such a meeting. “This meeting took place only 24 hours after the approval of shameful resolution of PDK and AAK, joined also by LDK, for talks with Serbia without any conditioning. This resolution expresses the unscrupulous readiness of Thaçi’s Government for any kind of meeting with Dacic and Nikolic despite the century-old criminal past of Serbia” reads the statement issued by Vetëvendosje.

 US hails continuation of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia (Koha Ditore)

US deputy assistant secretary of state Phillip Gordon said his country strongly supports continuation of dialogue towards normalization of relations and resolution of disagreements that will enable both the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia to move forward in their journey towards the EU. “One of the main challenges, as we all know, is relation between Serbia and Kosovo,” said Gordon.

Quint countries welcome the meeting of prime ministers (dailies)

The embassies of France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom and United States of America in Kosovo welcomed the first meeting between Prime Minister of Kosovo and that of Serbia under the facilitation of the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton.

Bajrami: “Historic” dialogue opens the north (Koha Ditore) – page 3

In an opinion piece, Koha Ditore’s chief editor Agron Bajrami points out that the meeting between Thaçi and Dacic marks the beginning of political dialogue and that was is striking was the atypical discretion that characterized the meeting which is not common in historic events. What is clear though, adds Bajrami, is that Kosovo has entered the negotiations process where the main topic of discussion will be the north of Kosovo and its internal arrangement.

“If Prime Minister Thaçi continues as until now – without plan and state strategy, without declared national interests, without insisting on implementation of conditions set beforehand, without his own agenda and with tendencies for unlimited concessions – we have a very bleak perspective,” concludes Bajrami.

Police should not have heeded Rexhepi’s orders (Koha Ditore) – page 5

An unnamed official from the Kosovo Police told the paper that members of the Police should not have heeded the order coming from Interior Minister Bajram Rexhepi on Wednesday during the Vetëvendosje protest against privatization of KEK. “Police should have acted in accordance to the law and its chain of command” said the source adding that the law defines the director of the Kosovo Police as the ultimate order giver. “Minister’s order is not a legal order, therefore orders that are not legal are null and void,” said the source.

PDK’s Flora Brovina rebels against the party (Zëri) – front page

The paper reports that the recent official to criticize the way Democratic Party of Kosovo is being led is one of the most influential women in the party, Flora Brovina. Brovina said she is not pleased with the situation in which the PDK is at the moment. “When I speak of PDK, I also speak of the majority of parties which need internal democratization and a greater party communication between members of the presidency and bases membership,” said Brovina. She added that ever since it came to power, PDK has forgotten party structure and functioning based on decisions taken by the party’s presidency.